Wooden Toys
I am a huge fan of wooden toys. Ever since my eldest was just a bub, we made the switch. I was tired of receiving quantity over quality each year for birthdays and Christmases, so when people started asking what she wanted, I got a few to chip in for a nice wooden baby toy that would last the distance.
That is just it. Wooden toys really do stand the test of time, and so many of them encourage open-ended play. This means your child can use their imagination decide how they want to play.
There are so many different reasons to fall in love with wooden educational toys. From doll house to doll prams, rideons and ore, there is something for everyone to encourage both indoor play and outdoor play. Here are just a few of their top features:
LONG-LASTING
With three kids, toys that last are a must. When we were buying plastic, we went through toys like there was no tomorrow. Things snapped off, things broke off, things went missing. Wooden toys are such high quality, they can handle a bit of rough play without falling to pieces. When I invest in a wooden toy for my eldest, I know that my youngest will one day get to play with it too, which makes it such a great investment.
IMAGINATIVE PLAY
Imaginative play is one of my all-time favourites for the simple fact that it is endless. One toy can be so many different things, all you need is an imagination. This can take some time for little minds to get around, so just encourage it slowly. Sit with them and show them how toys can be used different ways. The blocks can become towers or seats for their dolls.
GROW WITH YOUR CHILD
A simple wooden toy can grow with your child over the year. For example, and egg matching wooden toy can teach a two year old colours, and then teach a four year old about mixing colours to make new ones. There are so many different ways to expand on the play.
BUILD REAL LIFE SKILLS
It’s a fact, kids love mimicking adults in everything they do. You can buy wooden food to teach them about grocery shopping, or even wooden sticks can be used as a form of currency. It’s a combination of imagination and real-life play that enable them to develop key skills.
LESS DISTRACTING
Unlike their plastic counterparts, wooden toys generally don’t make sounds, they don’t move, and they don’t talk. This means the child has to take over and do all these things themselves, which develops their imagination along with some key social and communication skills. Taking away the distractions of sound, light and movement, encourages their senses to step up and take over with the play. They don’t sit back and watch, they do.
QUIET
This one is an added bonus for parents: wooden toys are quiet. They don’t have all the distracting noises and sounds mentioned above, making them a quiet alternative in your household. You will find that kids (and you) adjust your volume to combat the noise of people around you. Take away this noise and you will be pleasantly surprised just how quiet it can be in your home.
FINE MOTOR SKILLS
Wooden toys also help with your child’s fine motor skills. From building to threading, pushing and more, they are encouraged to use their little fingers and practise motor skills.
Our Favourite Wooden Toys
There are so many gorgeous wooden baby toys out there these days that we are spoilt for choice, which is a wonderful thing. Here we take a look at some of our favourite wooden toys online and just why they are so amazing.
Wooden Toy Kitchens
Plum Interactive Snowdrop Kitchen
The wooden play kitchen is one of those toys that just keeps on giving. It is one of the best wooden toys for toddlers. You can choose from the full kitchen depending on your space, or just a small cooktop.
And, of course, there are so many different ways you can extend on their play. This includes:
In fact, you can keep adding to the kitchen over the years, renewing the area ready for more imaginative role play. We have had a wooden kitchen in our home for two years now and it is played with every day. Kids just love mimicking you and what they see you do and a toy kitchen is just perfect for this. Let the kids make you a coffee or tea, bring you some cake, cook you some eggs, or even set up a little play café. They are unlikely to need any prompting at all, but if they are looking a little lost, it’s so easy to get the play started by suggesting they make you something or cook something that you would normally make them. There is nothing better than a bit of role reversal.
We change up our space every now and then so the kids enter it with fresh eyes, but they never fail to find different ways to play with it. They even went through a phase of tipping everything out of the kitchen and into bags to carry around. It’s amazing to watch what entertains them and how this changes over time.
Wooden Puzzles
If you’re after an education wooden toy, this is it. Kids love puzzles. Lots of adults love puzzles too! There is so much satisfaction in being able to complete a puzzle and put it together all on your own – and kids feel this too. Puzzles are a great wooden toy that can grow with your child. You can start off with something basic and watch the pieces get smaller and trickier the older they get. This is one of the best wooden toys for a 2 year old.
There are so many different types to choose from:
- Peg Puzzles
- Shape Puzzles
- Lock box puzzles
- Number puzzles
- Animal puzzles
- Stacking puzzles
Wooden Toy Cars, Trucks and Trains
I thought being in a house of girls, cars wouldn’t be a big thing for us, but little did I know just how much kids in general LOVE cars, trucks and trains. We love collecting all the Thomas and Friends trains and building unique train tracks to race them around on.
This is also a great sharing and cooperation game as the children work together to build the play area and take turns with all the cars and trains. Wooden cars and trains are also great for practising their fine motor skills, driving the cars along the ground, under tunnels and through the house.
These type of toys make a top wooden toy for babies through to infants and toddlers.
Wooden Walker
Teaching a baby to walk is a big moment in their lives – and doesn’t come without a big of encouragement. Even better when the encouragement is just this cute! The excitement of watching your little one take their first steps is amazing.This wooden baby walker is just so practical with lots of fun activities for sit and play as well.
Musical Toys
Don’t mind a bit of noise in your home? Wooden musical toys have so much to teach your children, and thankfully, they tend to be less ear piercing than their plastic counterparts. Wooden toys are so durable that these musical toys can handle a bit of a bang and crash around the house, teaching your kids about making melodies. Who knows, it may bring out the inner musician in them and encourage them to pick a musical instrument in school?
Musical toys also foster creativity, encouraging your kids to come up with different tunes and melodies each time they play. Studies actually show that “babies and toddlers who are exposed to music tend to be more advanced than their peers in terms of learning skills, critical and logical thinking skills and problem-solving skills.
There is a whole range of different musical toys for babies and we just love the bright colours! Some of these include:
Xylophone
Rainmaker
Shaker eggs
You can also get musical instruments for kids that come in sets, saving you space and clutter. We love these options:
Wooden Teething Toys
The wooden teething ring is both chemical free and non-toxic, which makes it the perfect choice for your baby and so much better than plastic options. A wooden teether is also extremely durable and will outlast its plastic counterparts, as well as being naturally antibacterial thanks to the properties of wood.
Wooden Dollhouse
The wooden dollhouse has definitely been a favourite in our home. Girl or boy, the power of a dollhouse to evoke the imagination and encourage creative play is endless. There are plenty of different wooden dolls house on the market, from the more gender neutral version, to the mini wooden dollhouse.
Of course, you can have some fun decking it out with lots of doll furniture, but that will depend on the age of your little one. For young kids – keep it as bare as possible to encourage them to use their imagination. You will find they have no issue mimicking home life without the aid of realistic props.
Wooden Blocks
If you don’t already have some wooden blocks in your home, go out and buy some. In my opinion, there is honestly no better toy to have. You can build, explore, imagine, create and inspire – all through a pile of blocks. You can play together, play alone, knock things over and build them up again. From a baby who is learning to stack to a toddler who is building towers confidently to a preschooler who is building cities, wooden blocks are a toy that will grow with your child over the years.
Wooden Activity Cube
A wooden activity cube really is the toy that keeps on giving. Each side offers a different activity for your little one to engage with, which means there are plenty of options for play. A baby activity table or cube, also encourages your baby to stand up to play, which builds their gross motor skills at the same time as their fine motor skills. It’s a great toy to have on hand in a corner of the toy room that you can pull out every now and then to engage your little one.
Wooden Pull Along Toy
For a little baby who is in the midst of learning to crawl or walk, a pull along toy is the perfect way to encourage their gross motor skills. What could be more fun than turning around and seeing a little wooden rabbit following you as you went? Wooden toys are perfect for this task, as they are without the flashing lights or noise of their plastic counterparts, so babies can concentrate on the activity at hand – learning to crawl or walk.
Thanks to our good friends at Babyvine for helping with this article.